whatever he may have been, no one is shut out who believes the record which God has given of his Son; no one excluded, who believes on Him. This tract Reader, believest thou on the Son of God? may have been blessed to thy soul; "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," Romans x. 17. Believest thou what God has spoken of his Son? Believest thou on the Son of God? What, leaving the wretched system of a wretched world, salvation by works, which the Bible describes as 66 a covering too narrow," Isa. xxviii. 20; a "spider's web," Isa. lix. 5; "filthy rags," Isa. lxiv. 6; dost thou believe in Jesus as the way, the only way, wherein thou canst be saved? Is it so with thee? Then, as the Bible is true, thou art a saved soul: for " he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life," John iii. 36. Adore the love, the distinguishing love, of thy God: who having chosen thee in Christ before the foundation of the world, Eph. i. 4, given thee to Christ, John vi. 37, and united thee to Christ, Eph. v. 30-32, did give Christ to thee, John iii. 15, to die for thy sins, in time, that in him thou mightest be saved for ever. Adore Him who has called thee out of darkness into his marvellous light, 1 Pet. ii. 9; for what Jesus declared, when Peter said to him, "thou art Christ, the Son of the living God," may be said to thee, "Blessed art thou, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven," Matt. xvi. 17. "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost," 1 Cor. xii. 3. God by his Spirit has given thee to believe now, because thou wast chosen in eternity. "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee," Jer. xxxi. 3. And dost thou ask where good works are to be placed, since, in the way of acceptance, they have no place? I answer, they are the fruits of that faith which rejects all works, except the work of Christ, as the ground of justification before God; but which produces all holy obedience as the fruit of such justification. The good seed sown in the soul by the Spirit of God, is the word of God, Luke viii. 11; that word which declares that Christ justifies the ungodly, Rom. iv. 5; faith receives that word, 1 John v. 9, 10; that word received into the heart, brings forth fruit, Luke viii. 15; and by their fruits all who have received this seed are to be known, Matt. xii. 33. As before the seed is sown there can be no gathering, so before the truth is received. no really good works can be expected. But as after the seed-time then cometh the fruit, so after the truth is received, good works are the certain consequence, Rom. vi. 22. "Christ died for the ungodly," Rom. v. 6; "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God," 1 Peter iii. 18. Most clearly is it shown in the Scriptures, that the great end of redemption by his blood, is, that we might walk with God here, Titus ii. 14, 1 John i. 3; and then live with God hereafter, Eph. i. 3-12. Hence the frequent exhortations to those who have professed to have received the truth-" Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's," 1 Cor. vi. 20, Rom. xii. Col. iii. But these exhortations to the performance of all good works, are not that he should be justified by them before God, but because the believer is justified without them. They justify his faith to others, James ii. 18, and evidence to his own soul that he has not received" the grace of God in vain," 1 John ii. 3; but they cannot, nor were they intended, to justify him before God. It is the great glory of the scheme of redemption that, while it sets forth the most wonderful grace and compassion to the forlorn and wretched, the guilty and the wicked, 1 John iv. 10, and effectually promotes holiness in those who partake of it, Titus ii. 11, 12, it excludes boasting altogether, Rom. iii. 27. Am I asked, By what means is this effected? By this especially; it declares that all who are justified, are justified as wholly and entirely unworthy. It declares that, God justifies "freely by his grace," Rom. iii. 24; that is, that there is no reason in the sinner himself wherefore one more than another should be justified, but only because God hath said that all that believe on his Son " are justified from all things," Acts xiii. 39. Even in the very Boasting is here for ever shut out. enjoyment of glory, the saints in their highest godliness will sing to the praise of that grace which justified them when ungodly, Rev. v. 8-10. The good works, then, of the believer, have their due place and situation; in that place all is beauty-take them out of that place, and all is confusion. Fare thee well, my brother! May the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort, keep thine eye fixed upon Jesus bearing thy sin in his own body on the tree; it is the great secret for peace in the conscience, joy in the heart, Rom. v. 1, 2, and holiness in the life, 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. May the name of Christ be precious; and may a remembrance of God's love to thee, draw out thy affections towards God. Whenever sin seems trifling, may a sight of the cross of Christ make it hateful. May the love of Christ constrain thee to live no longer to thyself, but to him who died for thee and rose again. And as Christ hath loved thee, and given himself for thee, so do thou love his brethren, however frail and weak, however poor and despised, however often differing from thee in judgment, and sometimes in practice, for Christ's sake. THE ENGLISH MONTHLY TRACT SOCIETY, 27, RED LION SQUARE; AND J. F. SHAW, BOOKSELLER, SOUTHAMPTON ROW, LONDON. J. & W. Rider, Printers, Bartholomew Close, London. A NARRATIVE. AMONG the many representations of the folly and danger of trifling with the instructions of the God of wisdom and love, contained in his Holy Word-one passage claims especial notice" He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death," Prov. viii. 36. The following circumstance, painfully illustrative of the truth of these words, is stated without embellishment or exaggeration. A young man left his father's house in the country, at the age of fifteen. He had a pious mother, and had been the subject of early religious instructions and impressions. After he began to reside in the city, he attended for a while upon the faithful preaching of the gospel, and was of hopeful habits. He, however, kept himself aloof from the more personal and special means of grace, still believing religion to be important, and designing to attend to it at a future time. He soon formed an acquaintance with associates less favourable to piety, with whose feelings he gradually learned to sympathise. He went on in this way for four or five years without much obvious change; though he was resisting convictions, harden-, ing his heart, grieving the Spirit of God, and laying the foundation of his moral ruin. He often received letters from his mother, reminding him of his duty, and urging him to it; over some of which he was constrained to drop a tear, and make good resolutions. But the way of his heart tended more and more to evil. Every month hardened him the more in impiety. He at length began to visit the theatre, and other dissipating amusements and pleasures. His place in the house of God was frequently vacated, and he was scarcely ever seen at the evening services. His mother's letters he read with less attention than formerly; for he had begun to suppose that he was quite competent to think and judge for himself, without her assistance; he thought, |